How to Pick a Crab Like You're from Maryland

August will be gone before you have time to look at your calendar nostalgically. But don't worry: There's still time for some crabs. The season is not yet over. It's time to shuck a few ears of corn and drink some Bohs and dive into a heaping pile of little blue beauties on your newspapered table. Here's how to pick your crabs, from a Marylander, born and raised on the Chesapeake Bay.

Things you need:

Crabs

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Thin, sharp paring knife

Wooden mallet

1. Start with the legs: pull them out of the sockets, save the claws, and toss the flippers. Using your hands, crack the thin, little ones in half and squeeze (or suck) out any meat.

2. For the claws, use your mallet to crack the thickest part of the lower claw arm (or bicep) and remove meat with your knife. Repeat on the claw forearm and the tip of the pinchers should come right off, leaving behind a popsicle of meat.

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3. Flip over the crab's body and pull off the V-shaped flap (or "apron") on its underside. Then, placing your thumbs between the shell and body where flap once was, pry off the shell.

4. Scrape away the lungs and innards. The yellow stuff (or "mustard"), too, if you choose, but give it a try first.

5. With both hands, split the body in half from the center. Then split each half in half again.

6. Now you're down to the good stuff. Pick the meat from between shell crevices with your fingers (or your knife, if need be, for the smaller bits). Eat it right then and there.